Monday, September 3, 2012

Marley Review

Marley Review: Doc gives Bob Marley his due

One Love, One Heart - Toronto.com
Review By: Peter Howell

Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 144 minutes
Directed By: Kevin MacDonald


Paragraph 1:
The title is basic and has good punch, noting that the review accomplished a positive goal. Here in the first paragraph writer Howell expresses his opinion on Bob Marley and provides a genre to base the writing after. He does a great job by setting the tone of the film and review while providing quality information.

Paragraph 2:
Praises the director by noting the Oscar award winning movie ( One Day In September ). This supplies a connection to readers not familiar with just the name of the director. If someone knows of or heard of his other film, this would intrigue them to continue reading and or see the film. Howell briefly describes as much of the director, while not dragging on too much.

Paragraph 3:
Howell shows small display of boredom from the amount of concert footage featured, but the film makes up for it by expounding on his rough childhood and complexity of his groups like the Wailers. This paragraph provides an opinion and a short but effective plot summary.

Paragraph 4-6
Writer Howell provides a quoted statement from a guest and provides a list of star/family quests that were invited to speak and explains their contributions.

Paragraph 7-10
In theses paragraphs Howell express some controversy that's involved in his place in society and the amount of attention he was receiving. This is a type of ideological connection because he opens up to all and becomes shows a fans perspective while expressing his perception of the films purpose and accomplishments.
"And Marley obviously isn’t intended to be a concert film. It wants to show us the man behind the famous dreads, beatific smile and durable songs of love, hope and longing. In this task it succeeds admirably."

Paragraph 11:
"Marley’s background as a child of a mixed-race family — his absent father was white, his mother black — is examined in depth and offered as explanation for his life struggles and his desire to unite all people in music."
Here is another prime example of ideological connection and plot summary: As Howell writes an explanation for Bob Marley's drive and passion for love and peace for all people. Notes that it is deeply covered in the film and largely contributes to the lasting affect his music has on his listeners.

Paragraph 12:
In the second to last paragraph another ideological connection is presented. Here Howell explains a part of the film where a concert almost costs Bob Marley his life.
"...he barely escaped with his life after assassins targeted him, following a public concert that was wrongly presumed to be in support of one side in a contentious election."

Paragraph 13:
Instead of telling us about what happens near the end of the film or placing his final opinion upon the film, writer Peter Howell leaves us with what he thinks we should have gotten from the film or if we missed the film,  the best way to describe Bob Marley and his mission.
"The “one” that the singular Bob Marley was really interested in is best expressed by the lyrics of one of his most popular songs: One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel all right . . ."







1 comment:

Amy Bolaski said...


Brandon,

Your assessment thorough and on target.

This is a good point: " This supplies a connection to readers not familiar with just the name of the director. If someone knows of or heard of his other film, this would intrigue them to continue reading and or see the film." These kinds of comparisons are very common and often effective.

This is a bit confusing: "Howell shows small display of boredom from the amount of concert footage featured." Do you mean he feels the pace of the film is too slow?

When you write, " a quoted statement from a guest", what do you mean by "guest"?

When you're talking about two men in the same sentence, be careful with general pronouns like "his". For example, "In theses paragraphs Howell express some controversy that's involved in his place in society." This suggests that "his place in society" is Howell's rather than Marley's.